North Korea says the US is 'begging for nuclear war' as stealth fighters begin training on the peninsula

North Korea's Foreign Ministry said the US had "nuclear
war mania" in a statement read on state TV over the
weekend.

The statement came as US stealth fighters moved to the
Korean Peninsula for a US-South Korea aerial drill, the largest
in history.

The air exercise, dubbed "Vigilant Ace," began
Monday.

Tensions escalated along the Korean Peninsula over the weekend as
US stealth fighters prepared for a joint military drill with
South Korea, with North Korea accusing the US of having "nuclear
war mania."

North Korea made several statements about actions taken by the US
over the weekend.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement read on state
TV that President Donald Trump and his administration were
"begging for nuclear war" by engaging in what the statement
referred to as an "extremely dangerous nuclear gamble,"
CNN reported.

The statement also said that if the Korean Peninsula and the
world were to be pushed to nuclear war, the US would be "fully
responsible" because of its "reckless nuclear war mania."

Then on Sunday, commentary run by state TV called this week's
US-South Korea joint air exercises a "dangerous provocation"
pushing the region "to the brink of a nuclear war," according to
CNN. North Korean media regularly threatens the US and its allies
and blames the US for tensions on the peninsula.

The US and its ally South Korea began their largest cooperative
air exercise in history, dubbed
Vigilant Ace, on Monday.

The US Air Force said in a statement that F-22 and F-35 stealth
jets had moved into South Korea over the weekend in preparation
for the joint drill. About 230 aircraft and 12,000 US personnel
are expected to participate in the weeklong exercise, which will
include more stealth jets than ever before.

According to the US Air Force, the move is designed to boost the
"combat effectiveness" of the alliance.

The White House national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, on
Saturday said the chances for nuclear war on the peninsula were
growing,
CNN reported.

"I think it's increasing every day, which means that we are in a
race, really, we are in a race to be able to solve this problem,"
McMaster said in a conference in California, when asked whether
North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile launch last
week had increased the chance of war.

McMaster also said North Korea represented the "the greatest
immediate threat to the United States."